The Zadkine Museum is one of the most interesting free museums in Paris. This museum is dedicated to sculptor Ossip Zadkine, who used to live and work in this house with his wife.
An unexpected little house in the middle of Paris, not far from the Luxembourg Garden, Ossip Zadkine described his ‘hidden treasure’ with the following words:
‘Viens voir ma folie d’Assas, et tu comprendras combien la vie d’un homme peut être changée à cause d’un pigeonnier, à cause d’un arbre‘
‘Come to see my Assas’ crazy thing (on Assas Street), and you will understand how much a man’s life can change because of a pigeonnier, because of a tree.’
Zadkine Museum is one of our favorite secret places in Paris. Click here for the list of the most beautiful hidden gems in Paris.
About Ossip Zadkine
Ossip Zadkine (1890 – 1967) was a Russian sculptor who settled in Paris in 1910. He was one of most representative artists of the École de Paris; an institution made up of foreign artists that chose Paris to live and work.
Zadkine was strongly influenced by primitivism, and later in his career, he went through a cubist period, taking his inspiration from Greek and Roman classical art. There are some sculptures from Zadkine in Paris, but the bronze sculpture of Van Gogh at Auvers-Sur-Oise is his most popular work.
Zadkine’s Studio
Zadkine arrived at Montparnasse in 1909. After some time here and there, he moved with his wife, also a painter, to this studio at rue d’ Assas in Paris 6.
At that time, Paris 6 was one of Paris’s preferred Paris districts to live and hang out for writers, artists, and bohemians in general who did not have much money. Zadkine and his wife lived and worked in this house until their last days.
After Zadkine’s death, the house was turned into a museum. The museum shows today the most representative works of the artist (sculptures and pictures).
The most interesting part of the museum is the sculpture workshop, where you can see his biggest artworks and pictures showing how Zadkine worked there.
The workshop is linked to the house by a cute little garden. Zadkine’s house is a little piece of heaven in Paris.
Zadkine Museum Paris – Practical Info
Address: 100 bis rue d’Assas; Metro station Vanvin, Line 4; Vélib Station #6.008
The museum opens Tuesday to Sunday, from 10 am to 6 pm.
A few years ago, the entrance to the Zadkine Museum was always free. Now, the entrance to the museum is free as long as there’s no temporary exhibition. During the temporary exhibitions, the ticket to the museum costs 10€.